Here are the latest updates on the war in Ukraine:
Ukrainian President Zhelensky spoke to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, citing the number of civilians in Russian attacks that sparked global outrage and called for UN reform. Russian forces are believed to be regrouping in the southeast with the aim of occupying the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Ukrainian officials say. The Red Cross team that was held overnight on the way to the evacuation attempt of Mariupol was released More than 7.1 million Ukrainians have been displaced since the start of the war, according to a new IOM report
12:20 p.m. ET
Twitter will not suggest Russian government accounts, it will ban some POW content
Twitter announced on Tuesday that it would not propose Russian government accounts to users as part of a rule change affecting accounts run by states that restrict open internet access and engage in armed transnational conflicts. The social media company also said it would now demand the removal of posters depicting prisoners of war posted from government or state media accounts. The Ukrainian government has posted content with prisoners of war on social media in recent weeks. Russia has fought big tech companies over control of information flows since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The Kremlin calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation.” Moscow has restricted access to Twitter by slowing down its service and has banned Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. “When a government blocks or restricts access to Internet services within its state, undermining the voice and ability of the public to have free access to information, but continues to use Internet services for its own communications, a serious information imbalance is created.” , mentioned Twitter in a blog. Position. -Reuters 11:35 a.m. ET
Zelensky accuses the Russian army of war crimes at the UN
A woman walks next to a damaged Russian armored vehicle in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Rodrigo Abd / The Associated Press Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told the UN Security Council that the Russian military must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes. In a video appearance Tuesday, Zelensky blamed Kremlin troops for the worst atrocities since World War II and said they were no different from other terrorists such as the Islamic State extremist group. The Ukrainian leader made the video appeal on Tuesday as horrific evidence of Russian civilian massacres continued on the outskirts of Kiev. The images, particularly from the city of Bucha, have sparked global outrage and led to calls for tougher sanctions and the prosecution of war crimes against Russia. Zelensky showed the most powerful body of the UN in a short video with bloody corpses ending with the words “Stop the Russian attack”. – The Associated Press 11:06 a.m. ET
Buha mayor says displaced residents must not return home yet
A local resident stands in a wrecked Russian military vehicle as he talks about the Russian occupation of Bucha near Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Efrem Lukatsky / The Associated Press Displaced residents of the Ukrainian city of Bukha will not have to return home because there are still mines in the area after the withdrawal of Russian troops, Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk said on Tuesday. Speaking on national television, Fedoruk said about 3,700 civilians had remained in Bhutan throughout the occupation by Russian troops, who have been accused of atrocities there. The Kremlin denies the allegations. The city in the Kiev region, which has been completely recaptured by Ukrainian forces, had a population of about 37,000 before the war, according to state statistics. -Reuters 10:51 a.m. ET
Watch: Zelensky addresses UN Security Council: “Russia wants to turn Ukrainians into silent slaves”
9:45 a.m. ET
EU proposes new sanctions on Moscow as Kiev mayor calls for end to “damn money”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends a debate on political priorities for the two years on Tuesday 5 April 2022 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France.JEAN-FRANCOIS BADIAS / The Associated Press The European Union (EU) has proposed sweeping new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, including a ban on coal imports, as the West responds to reports of civilian killings in a Ukrainian city seized by Russian invaders. The proposed sanctions, which must be approved by EU member states, will ban Russian imports worth 9 billion euros and exports to Russia worth 10 billion euros, including semiconductors and computers, and stop Russian ships from entering ports. of the EU. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she is also working to ban oil imports. “We all saw the horrific images from Bukha and other areas from which the Russian troops recently left. “These atrocities cannot and will not go unanswered,” he wrote on Twitter. The announcement came hours after Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko called for an end to all business ties with Russia, halting the flow of “blood-stained money”. Since the Russian offensive shifted from northern Ukraine to the south and east, gloomy images have emerged from the city of Bucha near Kyiv, including a mass grave and the mutilated bodies of people shot at close range, prompting calls for tougher action against of Moscow and an international survey. Several European countries, including Germany, France and Italy, have announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats, and Moscow has said it will respond in kind. –Reuters 9:26 a.m. ET MURAT YUKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS 9:21 a.m. ET
“Great relief” for the Red Cross as his team is released in Ukraine
A group from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been released after being held in the Ukrainian city of Manhush as it tried to reach the Russian-besieged city of Mariupol. A senior member of the Ukrainian government said the ICRC team was released overnight after being captured by Russian forces occupying Manhush, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mariupol. “The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team held by police in Manhush on Monday was released last night. “This is a great relief for us and their families,” the Geneva-based ICC said in a statement. He said the group was now focusing on “continuing the humanitarian evacuation operation” from Mariupol, where tens of thousands of residents have been trapped with few supplies after weeks of bombardment by Russian forces surrounding the port city. “This incident yesterday shows how unstable and complicated the operation was to facilitate the safe passage around Mariupol for our team, which has been trying to reach the city since Friday,” the statement said. ICC did not say how many of its staff were detained in Manhush. She said last week that her team trying to reach Mariupol consisted of nine people. –Reuters 8:38 a.m. ET
Ukraine, Russia-backed separatists exchange accusations of acid tank explosion
Ukraine and Russian-backed separatist forces said Tuesday that an industrial acid tank had exploded in eastern Ukraine, posing a serious potential threat to locals, with each claiming responsibility for the other. “In Rubizhne, in the Luhansk region, Russian troops hit a tank with nitric acid,” David Arahamia, a member of Ukraine’s negotiating team for peace talks with Russia, told the Telegram. Luhansk Oblast Governor Sergie Haidai told residents in a Facebook message: “Do not leave bomb shelters. If you are indoors – close windows and doors. “ Luhansk is part of the Donbas region, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian army since 2014. The armed forces of the self-proclaimed Russian-backed People’s Republic of Luhansk told the Telegram that it was “Ukrainian nationalist groups” that blew up the acid tank before withdrawing from the city. He was said to have sent a dangerous cloud of poison gas. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the incident or identify the perpetrator. -Reuters 7:58 a.m. ET
More than 7.1 million people displaced by war in Ukraine: IOM
LVIV, UKRAINE- APRIL 05: People arrive at the Central Railway Station by train from Kharkov on April 5, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. Joe Raedle / Getty Images More than 7.1 million people have been displaced by the war in Ukraine, according to a report by the International Organization for Migration on Tuesday. This represents a 10% increase in the number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine since the first round of the investigation on March 16, he added. -Reuters 7:24 a.m. ET
Zelenski to brief UN supreme body on alleged massacres
President Volodymyr Zelensky (2nd L) walks in the city of Bucha, just northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kiev on April 4, 2022. RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP / Getty Images The Ukrainian president planned to address the most powerful UN body on Tuesday, after even more horrific evidence emerged of the massacre of civilians in areas where Russian forces had recently left. Western nations have deported dozens of other Moscow diplomats and weighed in on further sanctions, expressing disgust at what they say are war crimes. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech to the Security Council will be full of symbolism, but the invitation and other pro-Western events are unlikely to change the situation on the ground. He says his forces desperately need more powerful weapons, some of which the West was reluctant to provide. Russia’s veto guarantees that the body will not take any action, and it was not clear whether its representatives would even remain in the video conference room. Ukrainian officials say the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in cities around Kyiv recaptured by Russian forces and that a “torture chamber” has been discovered in the city of Bucha, from which some of the darkest details have emerged. -THE…
